Lock for sliding doors



1963 J. A. WOODWORTH ETAL 3,105,711

LOCK FOR sunzuc moons Filed Sept. 18, 1961 JOHN A. WOODWORT H 41.85 UNDER W000 BY ATTflE/VEY IN VEN TORS Z/ United States Patent 3,105,711 LOCK FOR SLIDWG DOORS John A. Woodworth, Los Angeles, and Albert B. Underwood, Glendale, Califi, assignors to W. & F. Mfg, Inc, Glendale, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Sept. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 138,915 8 Claims. (Cl. 292-113) This invention relates to locks for sliding doors, particularly doors that abut and are adapted to be locked to fixed jambs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lock of the above character that has a hook latch for eifecting locking of a door to a jamb and to provide novel and improved means that enables collapsing or retraction movement of said latch, when the same is in projected position, and the door is moved with such force in the direction of the jamb as may damage said latch unless such retraction is provided for.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lock of the character indicated in which the hook latch is pivotally carried by a keyor knob-controlled arm and in which the collapsing movement is first against the bias of resilient means that projects said latch, then is con' trolled by fixed cam means, and then is completed by said resilient means in combination with an abutment means that insures full and positive retraction of the hook latch.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected there-from, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and seiviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description and which is based on the accompanying drawing. However, said drawing merely shows, and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present lock, the same being shown with its hook latch projected.

FIG. 2 is a similar view of said lock with its hook latch retracted.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views as taken on 'the respective lines 3--3 and 44 of FIG. 1.

The lock that is illustrated is so mounted on a door 5 as to have operative engagement with a jamb 6 in which is provided a keeper 7 that is accessible through an opening 8 in the end face of said jamb.

The present lock is shown with a housing 9 in which is mounted an operating :arm 10 that resides in the lower rear portion of the lock and is rotational on its cylin drical extensions 11 that have bearing in suitable aligned holes in the side walls 12 of the housing. In the usual way (not illustrated) said arm, from one side of the door 5, may be actuated by a knob or handle or, from the opposite side, by a stem or tang of a key lock and fitted into the slot 13 of the arm. Of course, one of said extensions 11 may be blind, i.e., closed off by the side of the door so that the arm 10 may be operated only from the other side of the door.

In order to provide for proper projection of the hook 3,105,711 Patented Oct. 1, 1963 latch relative to its keeper, the lock, without invention, is provided with a pair of side plates 14 that are pivoted on cylindrical extensions 11 and are adjustable on such pivot by rotation of a bolt 15 to move a nut 16 on said bolt forwardly or rearwardly, as the case may be. An inter-engagement, at 17, between said nut and bifurcations in said plates 14, move the edges 18 of said plates, accordingly, to vary their projection-limiting disposition in the housing.

The present improved latch mechanism is shown, generally, as a hook latch 19 disposed between the side plates 14, a pivot 20 connecting said latch to the arm 10, a spring 21 biasing the latch to latching position as well as resiliently maintaining the latch in retracted position, and a fixed cam 22 extending across the housing for camming the hook latch in a direction to collapse the same after said latch has been initially partly retracted by engagement with the jamb 6.

The hook latch 19 is shown as a flat member provided with a body 23, a latching book 24 extending upwardly from the forward portion of said body, an upwardly extending abutment portion 25 on the rearward portion of said latch body, a cross pin 26 on the latter portion for engaging the edges 18 of the side plates 14 to limit the projected position of the hook 24, and a tail part 27 on the lower end of said body extending below the pivot 20 that connects said latch and the actuator arm 10.

The above-described latch 19 is provided with a bifurcation 28 below the main portion of the body 23, the same being formed to accommodate the arm 10 in all positions of the latter and of the latch. The spring 21 has one end connected to the plates 14 and its other end to a cross pin 29 somewhat below and forward of the pivot 20, the same being active at all times to bias the hook 24 outwardly of the front edge opening 30 of the housing 9. In the latching position of the latch 23, the engagement of cross pin 26 with abutment edges 18 locates the latch hook 24. In the retracted position of the latch, the engagement by latch tail 27 with a cross pin 31 between plates 14 insures final retractive movement of the latch to full retraction within the housing 9.

It will be clear from the foregoing that key or handle actuation of arm 10' through an operating arc of about will move the latch 19 between projected and retracted position; that, when projected, with its book 24 engaged with the keeper 7, said latch eitectively locks the door 5 to the jamb 6 due to the abutment engagement between cross pin 26 and plate edges 18; and that, when the latch is retracted, the same can be projected only upon handle or key actuation of arm 11, since only separation of the latch tail 27 from the cross pin 31 will allow the spring 21 to bias the latch to projected position.

While the latch 19 may be retracted, by actuation of arm 10 by first causing the same to move in a downward direction, as guided by the engagement of pin 26 with edges 18, then initially inwardly, as the pin 26 rides along the sloping edges 32 of the side plates 14, and, finally, fully inwardly as the tail 27 ot the latch encounters the cross pin 31, it will be noted that the cam means 22 has no part in this normal retraction of the latch. The same comes into play only in the event that the latch 19 is in projected position and its book 24 is struck by the jamb 6 when the door is slid toward said jamb.

Said cam means 22 is shown as a cross pin 33 fixed between housing side walls 12 and provided with a sloping cam face 34 that is sloped from a forward upper end inwardly and downwardly and is located in the path of rearward movement of latch portion 25, the latter being rounded, as shown, for smooth camming engagement with said surface 34.

As shown in FIG. 1, upon the jamb 6 striking the latch hook 24, the latch 19 will be moved on its pivot 20 to the dot-dash line position of said FIG. 1 where the latch portion 25 is abutted with the forward upper portion of said cam surface. The latch cannot be further moved rearwardly unless it also moves in a downward direction. Since the pivot 20 is forward of a straight line that extends between said point of abutment on cam face 34 and the center of rotation of arm 19, continued pressure by the jamb on the hook 24 will result in a downwardly transmitted force ,on the pivot 29 and, consequently, a forwardly and downwardly rotational movement of said am and of the pivot, causing the latter to pull on and fold the latch downwardly. Now, the spring 21 becomes effective to draw the rear face 35 into contact with the cross pin 31, any continued movement of arm in a downward direction resulting in the latch being fully folded over into retracted position to the full line position of FIG. 2its normal retracted position when handleor key-operated.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a lock for sliding doors, a latch provided with a latching hook that has a projected position of the lock, a rotational actuator comprising an arm, a pivot connecting said arm and the latch, a spring biasing the latch to the mentioned projected position, a fixed cam member in the path of movement of the latch when the same is moved retractively against the bias of said spring, said cam member having a cam face that engages such retracted latch to force the same in a direction to impose rotational movement of the latch pivot away from the cam member, and means acting against the bias of said spring to swing the latch member to fully retracted position relative to the projected position thereof the mentioned cam face being sloped in a downward direction away from the projected position of the latch, and the latch being provided with a rounded extension to engage and slide inwardly and downwardly along said sloping cam face during retractive movement of the latch.

2. In a lock according to claim 1, the mentioned pivot being offset from an imaginary line extending from the point of engagement of the rounded extension with the cam face and the axis of rotation of the actuator.

33. In a lock according to claim 1, in which the lastmentioned means comprises an extension on the latch, and a fixed cross pin that is engaged by said extension to swing the latch to the mentioned fully retracted position.

4. In a lock for a sliding door and having a flat housing with an opening therein and provided with a latch actuator having an arm movable rotationally around an axis transverse to the flat housing, a latch, and a pivot connecting said latch and arm, the latch being provided with a jamb-engaging hook that extends through the housing opening in the normal projected position of the latch, as actuated by the actuator, the improvement that comprises a fixed cam member carried by the housing and in the path of retractive movement of the latch when the same is struck by the jamb during sliding movement of the door on which mounted toward said jamb, said cam having a sloping cam face that urges the latch to move in a direction at an angle to said path of retractive movement and in the direction of said retractive movement to cause the latch and actuator to fold on the pivot connecting the same.

5. In a lock for a sliding door and having a flat housing with an opening therein and provided witha latch actuator having an arm movable rotationally around an axis transverse to the fiat housing, a latch, and a pivot connecting said latch and arm, the latch being provided with a jamb-engaging hook that extends through the housing opening in the normal projected position of the latch, as actuated by the actuator, the improvement that comprises a fixed cam member carried by the housing and in the path of retractive movement of the latch when the same is struck by the jamb during sliding movement of the door on which mounted toward said jamb, said cam having a sloping cam face that urges the latch to move in a direction at an angle to said path of retractive movement and in the direction of said retractive movement to cause the latch and actuator to fold on the pivot connecting the same, and a spring bias on the latch,

to continue the folding movement of the latch and actuator.

6. In a lock for a sliding door and having a flat housing with an opening therein and provided with a latch actuator having an arm movable rotationally around an axis transverse to the flat housing, a latch, and a pivot connecting said latch and arm, the latch being provided with a jamb-engaging hook that extends through the housing opening in the normal projected position of the latch, as actuated by the actuator, the improvement that comprises a fixed cam member carried by the housing and in the path of retractive movement of the latch when the same is struck by the jamb during sliding movement of the door on which mounted toward said jamb, said cam having a sloping cam face that :urges the latch to move in a direction at an angle to said path of retractive movement and in the direction of said retractivemovement to cause the latch and actuator to fold on the pivot connecting the same, a spring bias on the latch to continue the folding movement of the latch and'actuator, said latchhaving a tail portion on the opposite side of the pivot from the hook thereof, and a stop in the housing to engage the hook and swing the latch to fully retracted position within the housing.

7. A lock which comprises a housing having an opening therein, a rotary member pivotally secured within said housing and operable from outside said housing, an operating arm connected to said rotary member for rotation therewith and positionable in a first position by movement in one direction of rotation and a second position by movement in another direction of rotation, a latch member having a latch hook pivotally connectedhto said arm, a guide surface located within said housing,-

direction from outside said housing to move said guide means along said guide surface to retract said hook into said housing, and a cam surface within said housing remote from said guide surface in a direction whereby a force tending to move said hook into said housing from" said locked position will cause said guide means to disengage said gu-ide surface and a surface on said latch member to engage said cam surface to change the direction of movement of said latch member to permit said biasing means to move said latch member toward said retracted position with said hook disposed inside said housing.

8. A lock according to claim 7 wherein said guide surface is disposed at an angle oblique to said opening and wherein said cam surface is located in a position remote from :said guide surface whereby the movement of said latch in response to said force is in a direction permember engages said camsurface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Le Bon III Feb. 1, Eads Apr. 23, Russell Feb. 9, 'Mineah Mar. 15,

Woodworth et a1 Jan. 30, 

4. IN A LOCK FOR A SLIDING DOOR AND HAVING A FLAT HOUSING WITH AN OPENING THEREIN AND PROVIDED WITH A LATCH ACTUATOR HAVING AN ARM MOVABLE ROTATIONALLY AROUND AN AXIS TRANSVERSE TO THE FLAT HOUSING, A LATCH, AND A PIVOT CONNECTING SAID LATCH AND ARM, THE LATCH BEING PROVIDED WITH A JAMB-ENGAGING HOOK THAT EXTENDS THROUGH THE HOUSING OPENING IN THE NORMAL PROJECTED POSITION OF THE LATCH, AS ACTUATED BY THE ACTUATOR, THE IMPROVEMENT THAT COMPRISES A FIXED CAM MEMBER CARRIED BY THE HOUSING AND IN THE PATH OF RETRACTIVE MOVEMENT OF THE LATCH WHEN THE SAME IS STRUCK BY THE JAMB DURING SLIDING MOVEMENT OF THE DOOR ON WHICH MOUNTED TOWARD SAID JAMB, SAID CAM HAVING A SLOPING CAM FACE THAT URGES THE LATCH TO MOVE IN DIRECTION AT AN ANGLE TO SAID PATH OF RETRACTIVE MOVEMENT AND IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID RETRACTIVE MOVEMENT TO CAUSE THE LATCH AND ACTUATOR TO FOLD ON THE PIVOT CONNECTING THE SAME. 